Police: Lewiston City Council candidate arrested for throwing child to ground

LEWISTON, Maine — Frequent mayoral candidate Charles A. Soule was arrested Wednesday night, charged with picking up a child and throwing him to the ground near his home on Bartlett Street.

Police officer Tom Murphy arrested Soule at about 6 p.m. after witnessing the incident while driving through the downtown area.

Police said Soule, 58, approached a pair of children, approximately 10 years old, as they were playing with foam swim noodles on Bartlett Street. Soule then lifted one of the boys into the air and flung him back to the ground, Lt. Adam Higgins said.

The boy did not require hospital treatment. Police arrested Soule at the scene on charges of assault and disorderly conduct.

A frequent mayoral candidate, Soule this year has taken out papers to run for the Ward 5 city councilor position. City officials said Soule has not yet turned the papers in.

Police later Wednesday were still investigating the alleged assault. The motive was unknown.

Soule, however, is no stranger to legal problems. In 2001, he was slapped with a restraining order after a neighbor accused him of harassing and threatening him.

Around the same time, Soule was given a summons for criminal mischief for hanging handbills around the city while running for the position of Lewiston mayor.

In 1989, he admitted to a charge of soliciting a prostitute after offering an undercover cop $30 for sex.

On Wednesday night, Soule was being held at the Androscoggin County Jail on $300 bail.